Dusty
by autumnrose2010
Summary: Sequel to 'Something To Remember Me By.' Roy and Mary Ann Hinkley learn that their newborn son must undergo open heart surgery. Professor/Mary Ann, Ginger/Igor, Gilligan/Cindy
1. A New Son

"Keep pushing, Mary Ann! You're doing great!" Roy Hinkley encouraged his wife. The brunette, beads of perspiration popping out on her forehead, groaned with the effort and bore down one more time.

"The head is crowning!" Roy exclaimed. "You're almost there!"

Mary Ann pushed with all her might and felt the baby slide from her body.

"It's a boy!" Roy exclaimed, but instead of hearing the lusty wail of a newborn, as she had when her daughter Dawn had been born three years previously, Mary Ann heard perfect silence broken only by the low murmur of quiet voices. She glanced around frantically but saw nothing but doctors and nurses and medical equipment.

"What is it? What's wrong? Where's my baby?" she cried frantically. She looked at Roy, but his attention was focused on what the doctors and nurses were doing. "Roy?" she asked uncertainly.

"It's all right, Mary Ann. It's all right," he said in an attempt to soothe her, but it was easy to see that he was as badly shaken as she herself was.

"His Apgar score isn't what it should be," the physician told the Hinkleys. "We're going to have to take him to the NICU and run some further tests on him."

Mary Ann was taken to her room, where she collapsed in helpless sobs. Roy held her and comforted her as well as he could.

Several hours later, the pediatrician, Dr. Daniels, came to talk to them. "There's a problem with the blood flow between the left and right sides of your son's heart," he told them. "He'll have to remain in the NICU until he's strong enough to undergo surgery."

"When can I see him?" asked Mary Ann.

"Why, as soon as you want," the physician told her.

Roy pushed his wife to the NICU in a wheelchair, where their tiny son lay sleeping in an incubator. His skin had a bluish tinge, but other than that, he was beautiful, with long, dark eyelashes lying against his cheeks and tufts of fine dark brown hair covering the top of his head.

"Oh, Dusty," Mary Ann said softly, gingerly reaching for him and taking him into her arms. They'd planned to name him Dustin Roy Hinkley and call him Dusty for short.

As she held her tiny son, she felt the same overwhelming love she'd felt when she'd held Dawn for the first time. Lightly she traced her fingers over his oh-so-soft skin and the fine down covering his head. "I love you so much," she whispered to him before handing him to his father.


	2. Sharing The News

The Hinkleys were only allowed to visit with their son for a few precious minutes, and then Roy had to take Mary Ann back to her room. "I think that was just about the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life," Mary Ann said to her husband as he helped her back into bed.

"I know what you mean," Roy replied. "I feel exactly the same way. Why don't you get some rest, and I'll call all the others and tell them the news."

In Kansas, Mary Ann's cousin, Cindy, sat her knitting down and went to fetch her one-year-old daughter, Heather, who'd just awakened from her nap and was crying. Her husband, Gilligan, was outside chopping wood. She'd just picked Heather up and was trying to soothe her when she heard the telephone ringing and went to answer it. "Oh, hi, Roy!" she exclaimed when she heard Roy's voice.

"Hi, Cindy," said Roy. "I wanted to let you know that our son is here, but he has a heart defect and has to have surgery soon."

"Oh, no!" Cindy exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

Three-year-old April wandered into the kitchen. "I just made poo poo, Mommy!" she exclaimed proudly.

Cindy put her hand over the receiver. "Sh! Later," she whispered to her daughter. "How's Mary Ann?" she asked Roy.

"Physically, she's fine. She's resting right now, but of course, she's really torn up over Dusty."

"Why, I'm sure she is!" Cindy exclaimed.

Just then Gilligan entered the house, promptly dropping a pile of wood onto the floor.

"Gilligan just came in, didn't he?" asked Roy.

"How'd you know?" asked Cindy. "Hon, would you please get April cleaned up? I'm in the middle of a long distance phone call," she added to Gilligan.

"Oh, who is it?" cried Gilligan. "Is it someone from the island?"

"It's Roy."

"Roy?" Gilligan looked blank.

"Roy Hinkley. The Professor." She handed the receiver to her husband and went to take care of April herself.

"Hey, Professor!" Gilligan crowed.

"Gilligan, listen," said Roy. "Mary Ann and I have a brand new baby boy now. His name is Dusty, and there's something wrong with his heart. He's going to have to have surgery."

"Oh, no, Professor!" Gilligan sounded genuinely distressed. "Poor little boy!"

"He's in good hands, Gilligan," Roy replied. "The doctor's going to do everything he can. It's just a bit scary to me and Mary Ann because he's so tiny." He hung up, thinking how peculiar it was that he'd been the one to comfort Gilligan instead of the other way around.

* * *

In California, Ginger sat by her swimming pool relaxing with a drink. She'd just done the final scene for her latest movie, and she had a few days off before she was due to start preparing for a commercial she'd been hired to make. Igor, who now worked for her, was at the studio helping with the final preparations for the movie's release, and sixteen-year-old Audrey was at school.

Suddenly Claudia, Ginger's housekeeper, appeared. "There is a telephone call for you," she announced in her thick Spanish accent. "It is from someone called Roy Hinkley."

"The Professor!" Ginger exclaimed, racing for the telephone.

"Hi, Ginger," Roy said. "I wanted to let you know that our son is here."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Ginger exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Dusty was born with a heart defect," Roy continued. "He'll have to have corrective surgery soon."

"Oh, no!" said Ginger. "It's funny, I mean no, it isn't really, but I just finished making a movie in which an older couple give birth to a child with Down's syndrome who also has a severe heart defect. The whole movie is about the quality of the child's life and whether or not corrective surgery should be done to save it. I play the baby's aunt."

"Well, that's interesting," Roy said. "But Mary Ann and I are very concerned for our real-life son."

"Oh, of course you are!" said Ginger. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to imply that it wasn't a serious situation."

"That's all right, Ginger. I know you didn't."

"Well, is Mary Ann all right?"

"Physically, yes. She's resting right now."

"That's good. Well, I sure do hope Dusty's surgery goes all right."

"Thank you, Ginger. I hope so, too."

* * *

In their mansion in New York, Thurston Howell III and his wife, Eunice, were entertaining friends when their butler announced that they had a telephone call.

"I'll take it," Eunice volunteered.

"Mrs. Howell?"

"Oh, Professor! How lovely to hear from you!"

"Mrs. Howell, Mary Ann and I have a newborn son, but he's seriously ill. He has to have surgery on his heart soon."

"Oh, how dreadful! The poor little thing!"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know about it. Please give your husband my regards, and let him know as well."

"Oh, of course I will!"

* * *

In Hawaii, Skipper Jonas Grumby and his new first mate, an energetic young sailor named Milt Milligan, were just about to take another five passengers on another three-hour tour when he received an unexpected telephone call.

"Professor! How are you doing?"

"Not too good, Skipper," Roy told him. "Mary Ann and I have a new son, but there's something wrong with his heart, and he has to have surgery soon."

"Oh, no!" Jonas exclaimed. "Poor Mary Ann!"

"She's devastated, and so am I," Roy said.

"Well, please tell her I hope everything turns out all right!"

"Thanks, Skipper. I will."


	3. Telling Audrey And Dawn

Mary Ann, who'd been dozing peacefully, stirred and began to awaken. "Did you call all the others?" she asked Roy.

He nodded. "They all send their regards."

"Are they all doing OK?"

"Everyone's fine."

"I want to see him again, Roy."

"I'll ask the nurse." He summoned her.

"Only for a few minutes," she told them when she arrived a few minutes later. "His heart is very weak, and he can't take much stress."

Together they walked to the NICU, where Mary Ann gazed at her tiny son lying so still in his incubator, hooked up to a heart monitor. Carefully, the nurse unhooked the monitor and placed the infant in his mother's arms.

"Hi, Dusty," Mary Ann said. "I'm your Mommy, and your Daddy and I love you oh, so very much. Everything's going to be all right, darling. They're going to fix your heart soon, and then you'll grow to be strong and healthy, just like your big sister."

After a few minutes, Roy and Mary Ann returned to Mary Ann's room. A couple of hours later, an attendant brought Mary Ann's dinner. "I'm not hungry," Mary Ann said listlessly.

"You need to eat, honey," Roy gently urged his wife. "You need to keep your strength up." After much persuasion, he got her to eat a bowl of soup, a few crackers, and several bites of jello. He left soon afterwards to go home to Dawn, promising to return first thing the next morning.

* * *

Igor arrived home not too long after Ginger finished talking to Roy. She went to meet him, and they embraced and kissed.

"How did it go?" she asked him.

"Very smoothly," he replied. "Movie is set to be released two weeks from now. Since you are in it, I am sure that it will do very well."

"Aw, thank you!" Ginger smiled. "I just heard from Roy Hinkley in Ohio. He and Mary Ann's son was born earlier today."

"Well, now, that is great!" Igor grinned.

Ginger shook her head. "There's something wrong with his heart. He's going to have to have surgery."

"Oh, no," Igor said softly. "Just like baby in movie."

"Yeah." Ginger sighed. "I suppose it's just another example of life imitating art."

"So, Ginger, how about if I take you out to lunch at nice restaurant to celebrate release of movie?"

He took her to a seafood restaurant in Malibu, where she had shrimp, crab legs, lobster with churned butter, and oysters. After lunch, they walked along the beach until it was time for Audrey to arrive home from school, then returned home.

Their daughter arrived only a few minutes later. "Hey, Mom!" the teenager sang, tossing her books onto the kitchen table as she bounced into the house. "Dad! So you were off today. That's cool!"

"I was able to leave work early today, sweetheart." Igor gave his daughter a quick hug.

"Mary Ann had her baby today," Ginger told Audrey.

"Wow, cool! What is it?"

"It's a little boy. He isn't well, though. There's something wrong with his heart, and he has to have surgery soon."

"Oh, no!" Audrey cried. "Poor Mary Ann and Roy!" Audrey and Mary Ann were still very close, and the teenager had spent lengthy vacations in Ohio with Mary Ann and Roy on several occasions since the castaways had been rescued and returned to their normal lives. "I want to talk to her!"

"She's still in the hospital, sweetheart," Ginger told her daughter. "But you can call her as soon as she gets home."

"I can't wait!" Audrey exclaimed.

* * *

Roy entered the house to find the babysitter, Peggy, sitting on the sofa holding Dawn, who was fast asleep. The little girl had her mother's dark brown hair and eyes and looked very much like her.

"She wanted to stay awake until you got home, but the poor little thing didn't quite make it," Peggy told Roy.

"I'll put her to bed," Roy offered, holding out his arms.

"Daddy," Dawn mumbled as she went into them.

"Hey, sweetheart."

Dawn opened her eyes and looked into his. "Want Mommy."

"She's still at the hospital because she's tired from having the baby, but she'll be home soon. You have a new baby brother, Princess."

Dawn rubbed her eyes sleepily. "What's his name?"

"Dusty."

"What's he look like?"

"He's very tiny, not much bigger than your baby dolls. He looks a lot like you did right after you were born."

"Can I see him?"

"Sure, when he comes home."

"Is he coming home with Mommy?"

Roy sighed. "No, sweetie. He has something wrong with his heart, so they have to operate and make it better. He'll come home after the operation."

"What's an op'ration?"

"It's where they open him up and fix his heart and then close him back up again."

Dawn's eyes grew wide. "But won't that hurt?"

"No, sweetie. He'll be asleep when they do it." Roy took her into the bedroom and began to tuck her in. "Do you want a story before you go to sleep?"

"That's OK, Daddy. I'm too sleepy." Dawn yawned mightily.

"Good-night, Princess." Roy kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you too, Daddy." Within seconds, she was asleep again.


	4. What Might Have Been

_Warning: Contains some 'M' rated material_

Mary Ann was still eating breakfast the following morning when Roy entered her room. "How's Dawn?" she asked after they kissed hello.

"Fine," Roy told her. "She fell asleep waiting for me to get home, but she woke up again when she heard me come inside. I explained the situation with Dusty to her, and she seemed to be OK with it."

"She's too little to understand," Mary Ann replied.

Later that morning, a nurse brought Dusty in his incubator into the room. "Would you like to feed him?" she asked Mary Ann.

"Oh, yes!" Mary Ann exclaimed. Roy helped her open her gown while the nurse gently lifted the infant from the incubator. She handed him to Mary Ann, who gently guided his mouth to her nipple. He latched on eagerly and began to suckle right away.

"Looks like he's hungry," Roy chuckled.

As she held her son and felt the movement of his tiny lips against her skin, Mary Ann felt peace flow over her for the first time since she'd given birth. Dusty suckled for only a few minutes, then fell asleep again.

"He sure didn't nurse for very long," Mary Ann remarked, remembering how Dawn had seemed constantly hungry in her first few weeks of life.

"It's an exertion for him, a strain on his heart," the nurse explained.

"Oh, no!" Mary Ann was alarmed.

The nurse smiled reassuringly. "It's all right. He _does _have to eat, after all. He knows when enough is enough. Little babies are smart that way."

Shortly afterwards, the data clerk arrived with the birth certificate. "His name is Dustin Roy Hinkley," Mary Ann told her.

* * *

Igor, Ginger, and Audrey had dinner together, and then Audrey went to her room to do her homework. Much later, Igor and Ginger were watching TV together on the sofa. Ginger lay with her head in Igor's lap while he rubbed her back soothingly. "You are worried about your friends."

"Of course I am! We were all on that island together for fifteen years! "They're just like family to me!"

"Of course. I understand that. Audrey is worried as well."

"You know how close she and Mary Ann have always been."

"I know how to cheer you up." Igor gathered Ginger into his arms and carried her into their bedroom. Softly he laid her on the bed, and she giggled as he began to place soft kisses on her neck. For such a large man, he could be incredibly gentle and loving.

"See, it is working already," he chuckled.

Eagerly she grasped his head between her hands, pressing her lips to his. Their tongues met and moved together as Ginger felt her passion intensify. Suddenly her clothing felt uncomfortably hot and tight.

As if he could read her mind, Igor gently began to remove it, piece by piece. As he lifted her bra away, the cool air touching her nipples made them rigid, and she moaned softly as she ran her hands over them.

Igor finished undressing her, then quickly removed his own clothing. As he stepped out of his underwear, she took his throbbing member into her mouth and began to gently suckle it as she massaged his testicles. He began to moan, softly at first, then more urgently.

When she knew that he was close, she lay back, and he climbed onto the bed beside her and resumed kissing her. From her neck he moved to her nipples, which were aching for his touch. She felt the delicate folds between her legs moisten and throb with desire, and as Igor lightly ran his fingers over and between them, she gasped and nearly went over the edge. A moment later, she felt his hot breath on them, and when his tongue finally touched her there, her orgasm washed forcefully over her.

Igor laughed softly, positioned himself over her, and entered her. After what seemed like mere seconds, he found his own release. "You are such passionate woman, Ginger," he murmured contentedly. "How was I lucky enough to find woman as passionate as you?"

As she drifted off to sleep later, it occurred to Ginger that now Roy and Mary Ann had two children together, just like Gilligan and Cindy did. She wondered whether, if circumstances had been different, she and Igor might have had a second, and perhaps even a third, child together as well. She knew that the past was finished and over with, and yet she still experienced bittersweet moments in which she wondered what might have been. She never spoke of this to Igor, or even to Audrey. It was a secret she bore alone.

* * *

Two days after Dusty's birth, Mary Ann was released from the hospital.

"It'll be nice to sleep together in our own bed again," Roy said as he put a comforting arm around Mary Ann.

"This is the hardest thing I've ever done before in my life." Mary Ann was near tears. Roy understood how she felt. He felt the same way himself. He wished he knew of the words to say to comfort her, but they just wouldn't come.

A few minutes later they silently drove out of the hospital parking lot, leaving their tiny son behind.


	5. Hearing From Audrey

"Mommy!" cried Dawn, running to greet her mother as Roy and Mary Ann entered the house.

"Hi, sweetheart!" Mary Ann scooped the little girl up in her arms and kissed her cheek. "Have you been a good girl for Peggy?"

Dawn nodded vigorously. "Peggy said she was as good as gold," Roy agreed.

"I'm so glad." Mary Ann sat on the sofa and held her daughter close.

"I made something for Dusty," Dawn announced, jumping off her mother's lap. "Daddy helped me." She skipped merrily into her bedroom and returned a few seconds later holding a piece of paper folded into quarters, like a card. On the front of the 'card' Dawn had drawn a picture of a sleeping baby, and when Mary Ann opened it, she saw that Roy had printed a message on the inside. 'Get well soon, Dusty! Love, Dawn.'

"I told Daddy the words to write, and he wrote them down," Dawn told her mother. "Do you think Dusty will like it?"

"He'll love it, sweetie." Touched, Mary Ann hugged and kissed her daughter.

* * *

"Do you think Mary Ann would be home from the hospital by now?" Audrey asked Ginger after dinner.

"She might be," Ginger replied. "Wouldn't hurt to call and see."

Right away, the teenage girl went to her bedroom and dialed Roy and Mary Ann's telephone number. Roy answered.

"Professor!" Audrey exclaimed. She'd grown up calling him 'Professor' on the island and hadn't been able to let go of the habit.

"Audrey!" Roy replied. "How's school?"

"It's going all right. We get out for winter break in a few days."

"Yeah, so does the university. It'll be nice to have some time off, help Mary Ann with the kids. Would you like for me to put her on?"

"Sure, if she feels up to it."

"I'm sure she'd love to hear from you." He handed the telephone to Mary Ann. "It's Audrey."

"Hey, sweetie!" Mary Ann chirped happily.

"Hi, Mary Ann!" said Audrey. "How's Dawn?" She'd enjoyed helping to care for the toddler on her previous visits.

"She's fine. Concerned about her new baby brother, just like we all are."

"How's he doing?"

Mary Ann sighed. "As well as can be expected, I guess. If things continue to go well, they hope to do the surgery in a few days." She and Audrey talked for a few minutes, about Audrey's school, her friends. plans for the holidays. Then Audrey put Ginger on the telephone, and the two former castaways chatted for about half and hour or so.

"They are all right, yes?" Igor asked after Ginger hung up.

"As well as can be expected."

"When Mark was two years old, he have to have operation for hernia," Igor told his wife. "Pam and I, we worry about such a little one being put to sleep. He come out just fine, however." Pam was Igor's ex-wife, and Mark and Jennifer were his son and daughter from that marriage.

"I was sure lucky Audrey never had anything major like that wrong with her while she was growing up on the island," Ginger replied. "If she had, all we would have had to depend on would have been Roy and his scientific expertise."

"If anything had happened to Audrey on island, I never would have even known I had daughter," Igor said soberly.

"I'm so glad nothing ever did," said Ginger.

"So am I."

* * *

Mary Ann pumped breast milk and took it to the hospital every day. She and Roy spent a lot of time visiting with Dusty while they were there, talking to him, feeding him, and cuddling him. Although he was still very frail, the nurses allowed his parents to cover him gently with their hands, not stroking or patting, just holding. When he was almost a week old, Dr. Daniels said that he wanted to talk with Roy and Mary Ann.

"He's doing exceedingly well," the doctor told the couple. "I'd like to schedule surgery for eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

Roy and Mary Ann returned home to tell Dawn the news about her baby brother. "Peggy's going to stay with you all day tomorrow again," Mary Ann told her daughter. "Dusty's operation is going to be in the morning."

"Can he finally come home after it's over?" asked Dawn.

"Not right away," her mother told her. "He'll have to stay in the hospital long enough for the doctors to make sure he's going to be OK first."

"But what if he's _not _OK?" Dawn's eyes grew very round and serious.

"He _is _going to be OK," Mary Ann replied. "We just have to keep believing that."


	6. Dusty's Operation

The night before Dusty's operation, Mary Ann got hardly any sleep, and the little bit she did get was haunted by unsettling dreams. She and Roy were awake early that morning, probably earlier than they needed to be, but of course they were both very concerned about being on time. They arrived at the hospital at exactly five minutes before eight o'clock. Dr. Daniels met them in admitting.

"He's being sedated as we speak," the physician told them. "Surgery will begin within the next few minutes. The operation should take about four hours, and if everything goes well, we're looking at sending him home in about a week." He talked to them for a few minutes more, explaining exactly how the procedure would be performed. Then he asked if they had any questions.

"How much pain will he be in during his recovery?" Mary Ann wanted to know.

"There will be some soreness for a few days, but we'll administer pain relief through an I.V."

"But he's so _little!" _Mary Ann exclaimed. "Is it safe to give medicine to a baby that young?"

Dr. Daniels smiled. "I understand your concern, Mrs. Hinkley, but I've been doing this procedure on newborns just like your son for many years, and in almost every case, the baby has come out just fine."

_Almost _every case. Mary Ann knew that the physician couldn't absolutely guarantee a successful outcome, but for her, it was awfully hard not to obsess over the possibility that something might go wrong.

She sat in a chair in the waiting room, listlessly flipping through magazines. Roy came up behind her and began to massage her shoulders. She leaned back and closed her eyes, relishing the sensation.

"Ah, that feels _so _nice," she murmured.

* * *

"I want to visit the Hinkleys for Christmas vacation," Audrey announced to her parents.

"Are you sure?" asked Ginger. "You've never spent Christmas away from us before."

"I'm sure," Audrey replied. "I can't wait to see Dawn again, and I really want to meet Dusty. I asked Mary Ann if it would be OK for me to come, and she said it would be fine as long as it was all right with you."

"You will miss seeing Mark and Jennifer. You only see them twice a year," Igor reminded his daughter. It was important to him that all three of his children remain close.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Audrey looked conflicted, but only for a minute. "But I just saw Mark and Jennifer last summer. It's been longer than that since I last saw Mary Ann and her family."

"But Mark and Jennifer are _your _family," Igor insisted. "If you are not here, they will miss you."

"I'm gonna miss them, too," Audrey replied. "But I really want to meet the new baby, and I _will _see Mark and Jennifer again next summer."

"Summer is long time from now," Igor pointed out. "But if it is really what you want to do, then I will not stop you."

* * *

Time seemed to crawl for Mary Ann as she waited for Dr. Daniels to appear. Every little noise made her jump. At last he emerged, the expression on his face indicating nothing until he looked their way and smiled.

"Everything went well," he told them. "He's currently being monitored in recovery. You can go and see him in just a few minutes."

"Thank God!" Mary Ann gasped, collapsing into her husband's arms.

The next time she saw her son, the first thing she noticed was how tiny he looked surrounded by all the equipment he was attached to. Naked except for a diaper, his chest was swathed in bandages.

"Well, hello there, little man," Roy said with a smile.

"Oh, Dusty!" Mary Ann exclaimed. "It's all over now, darling, and everything's going to be just fine. You're going to grow up to be strong and healthy, just like your sister."

* * *

"I'll get it!" Audrey exclaimed when the telephone rang that evening.

"Hi, Audrey," said Roy's voice over the line. "Could you please put your Mom on?"

"Mom! It's the Professor!" Audrey exclaimed, passing the receiver to Ginger.

"Hello?" Ginger said breathlessly.

"Hi, Ginger. Mary Ann and I just wanted to let you know that Dusty's operation went well, and the doctor says he can come home in about a week as long as there are no complications."

"That's great!" said Ginger. "Thanks for calling to let me know. Give Mary Ann my love."

"I will." Roy said good-bye so that he could call the others.

"That was Roy. He said Dusty came through surgery just fine and should be able to come home in about a week."

"That is great!" Igor grinned. "I am so happy for them."

Ginger had mixed feelings: happiness for Roy and Mary Ann that their son had come through surgery all right, and disappointment that Audrey wanted to go away for Christmas. To her, it just seemed unnatural to spend Christmas apart from her only child.


	7. Together For The Holidays

Mary Ann was nervous as she prepared to take her son home from the hospital for the first time. Dressed in a simple white t-shirt and wrapped snugly in a blanket, Dusty was resting comfortably. Stitches still covered his incision, which was still visible, and it was in turn covered by a large bandage. Dr. Daniels had given the couple detailed instructions on the care of the incision and stitches and how to change the bandages.

"Well, are we ready to go?" asked Roy.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Mary Ann replied.

Roy heard the apprehension in her voice. "Everything's going to be fine," he reassured her, putting his arm around her as they walked outside the hospital together.

Mary Ann waited at the curb while Roy drove the car around. Dusty awakened briefly as he was strapped into his car seat but quickly fell asleep again and slept all the way home.

Roy parked the car, and Mary Ann took the carrier containing her sleeping son into the house. Dawn had a big grin on her face as she came running, pigtails flying. "Is that my new baby brother?" she asked.

"Yes, this is Dusty." Roy grinned proudly.

"Hi, Dusty!" The little girl kissed the infant's cheek. "This is your new home! Want to see your new room?"

Dusty began to whimper and stir. "We'll show him later, OK?" Mary Ann said to her daughter. "Right now he's hungry. Want to see how I feed him?"

She sat on the sofa, and Roy removed Dusty from his carrier and handed him to his mother. Mary Ann opened her shirt and unhooked her bra, and Dusty latched onto her nipple right away and began to suckle eagerly.

"Wow!" Dawn's eyes grew big. "Did you feed me like that when I was a baby, too?"

"I sure did!" her mother told her.

Mary Ann nursed Dusty until he was asleep again, then took him into the nursery and laid him in his crib. After getting her son settled, she turned the television on for Dawn and then sat on the sofa beside Roy.

"It's so nice to finally all be together in one place," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It certainly is," he agreed, holding her close.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Ginger tearfully hugged her daughter good-bye at the airport in California. "Be sure and call us as soon as you get there," she reminded her. "And Audrey...I hope you have a wonderful holiday."

"Thanks, Mom. You and Dad, too." She kissed Ginger's and Igor's cheeks and was gone. Ginger watched wistfully until her daughter was out of sight, then turned with a sigh to leave the airport. "It's gonna seem so quiet when we get back home."

"Not for long." Igor grinned. "Mark and Jennifer arrive tomorrow, you know."

"Audrey and I have been getting their bedrooms ready," Ginger replied.

"I know you have." Igor took her hand and squeezed it gently. "You two did wonderful job. "They are going to love it."

A few hours later, Audrey arrived in Ohio. Roy was waiting to meet her at the airport. "Professor!" she cried, running into his arms.

"Hello there, Audrey." He gave her a quick hug. "I can't believe how much older you look now than you did the last time I saw you." Audrey was tall like both her parents. She had Igor's dark brown hair and eyes and Ginger's facial features.

"How are Mary Ann and Dawn and the new baby?" asked Audrey.

"They're all fine. Mary Ann and Dawn can't wait to see you again."

The ride to the Hinkley home took about thirty minutes. Mary Ann was sitting in the recliner holding Dusty and Dawn was playing in the bedroom when Roy and Audrey arrived.

"Mary Ann!" Audrey rushed to hug her friend. Dusty's dark blue eyes regarded the newcomer curiously. "He's adorable! May I hold him?"

"Of course!" Mary Ann handed her son to the teenager. Everyone laughed as Dusty rooted at Audrey's sweater.

"You are such a little cutie!" Audrey gushed. "You know, some of my friends back home babysit, but I've never been this close to a baby this tiny before."

"He seems to like you, Audrey," Roy remarked.

"You know what?" Audrey said to Dusty. "I grew up with your Mom and Dad. There were eight of us on an island all together, so we all got to know each other very well."

"Audrey!" Dawn had heard her friend's voice and came running.

"Dawn!" Audrey handed Dusty back to his mother and scooped the little girl up into her arms, quickly setting her back down again. "Wow, Dawn, you've really grown! I can hardly pick you up anymore!"

The day passed quickly, and after dinner that night, Audrey and Dawn watched 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' together.

"I think it's really neat that those two are so close, even though they're so far apart in age," Mary Ann said to her husband.

"Of course they are," Roy replied. "Having parents who were all castaways together for fifteen years is bound to create a powerful bond, regardless of age difference."

"I never exactly thought of it that way before, but you're right," Mary Ann replied.


End file.
